The Chase
by Twilight Zephyr
Summary: Kirk gets Valentines from a mysterious and unlikely admirer. Kirk/Spock


**Notes:** I'm not 100% happy with this (and it is really, really late on a number of accounts because I was supposed to finish it for Valentine's Day of this year and then I tried to post it on K/S Day but I didn't because I suck), but I'm just glad it's finished. I'll leave whether or not it's good up to the readers.  
**Title:** The Chase  
**Fandom:** Star Trek: XI  
**Pairing:** Kirk/Spock  
**Rating:** pg13  
**Words:** 1771 words  
**Prompt:** Academy, secret admirer. Kirk gets Valentines from a mysterious and unlikely admirer. Reboot.

– – – **I. Roses** – – –

The door chime of Jim's room went off promptly at seven in the morning and again a few minutes later when no one answered. Bones grumbled something and Jim sighed and crawled out of bed to answer the door. He had no idea about who it was, but since it was Valentine's Day it couldn't be good.

So, it was with trepidation that Jim opened the door.

A chipper looking delivery boy stood on the doorstep, "Hi! I've got a delivery for a James Kirk, is he in?"

Jim blinked, "Uh, yes?"

"These are for you," he said, thrusting a brown wrapped bouquet of flowers into Jim's arms. "Have a happy Valentine's Day!"

Standing at the open door for several moments, Jim just stared at the wrapped bouquet in shock. He'd gotten plenty of Valentine's before and leading up to the day, he'd gotten more than his share of invites, dates, and propositions. None of them had ever sent him flowers though; that was... new. And also cliché.

Closing the door, Jim pulled off the paper just as Bones sat up.

"What have you got there?" Bones slurred a little as he spoke, clearly still mostly asleep. "What time is it?"

"Go back to sleep, Bones," Jim said. He knew it was too late, though, because Bones spotted the flowers and was fully awake in record time.

"Who's sending you flowers?" Bones asked, sitting up. "You got a secret admirer?"

"Shut up." Jim tossed the brown paper aside, revealing about a dozen red roses. They were tied together with a wide dark red ribbon in a bow and there was a decorative card attached to it. Jim tugged it off the ribbon and looked for a name.

He wasn't too surprised that there wasn't a name, just a poem? It looked somewhat familiar, but Jim couldn't quite think of where he'd seen the words before.

_And I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do._ Jim stared; he had no idea what to do. He didn't know who had sent the roses; the handwriting on the note was intricate and neat. Plus, who sent someone roses on Valentine's day without a signed note?

It didn't... feel like this was just someone trying to get into his pants for a one-night stand. It felt a little more romantic than anything he was used to. Hell, he'd never done anything like this himself.

The roses were a beautiful shade of red, though, and they smelled nice. Jim set them aside on his night stand.

Bones was still laughing and he had a shit-eating grin on his face as he said, in a sing-song voice, "Jim's got a secret admirer!"

"Shut up, Bones."

– – – **II. Be Mine** – – –

When Jim walked into his first class that morning, he found that his secret admirer had struck again. Sitting innocently on his assigned desk was a teddy bear. And not just any teddy bear; this one was white, fluffy, and was holding a heart in its hands that had 'be mine' stitched on it.

Jim stared at it for several long moments. Then he sighed and swept it off his desk and tucked it into his bag. He didn't need a note to know who it was from.

The class slowly filled up and Jim was glad that he'd gotten there early. A group of giggling cadets entered shortly after him, each of them holding a gaudy Valentine's Day card in their hands which they delivered to the objects of their affections. Jim himself received quite a few, which he stacked on one corner of his desk.

The instructor entered shortly thereafter and the class settled into order, with a quiet hum of conversation until the instructor cleared her throat and began the day's lecture. Jim paid it half a mind; he knew most of it already. Instead, he tried to figure out who his secret admirer was.

There were a couple of cadets who kept shooting him significant looks, but aside from acknowledging them in his periphery, Jim ignored them.

It was going to be a long day.

– – – **III. Chocolates** – – –

At lunch, Jim came back to his room to find that there was a heart-shaped velvet box of chocolates sitting on his bed. This time, unlike the bear, there was a note.

_An enchanted moment, and it sees me through. It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you._

There was a bit of a sting of concern because Jim was allergic to several popular ingredients used in chocolates. but when Jim opened the box to see if there was an index card of the types in the box, he noticed that all of those had been excluded. Hell, his favourites were the _**only**_ ones included in the box.

Now this was just starting to get maybe just a little bit creepy. It had to be someone Jim knew because he didn't exactly go into detail about his specific allergies – numerous as they were – with most people. If this was some kind of a joke, it wasn't a particularly funny one.

Jim replaced the lid on the box and set it aside on the table beside the roses. This was more food for thought.

Bones was busy all day, which meant that whoever had left the chocolates either knew the code for his room or had asked the dorm supervisor for permission. Either way, Jim had an easy way of figuring out who his secret admirer was; they'd have gotten caught on the dorm's security feed, which was one easy hack away.

But where was the fun in that?

The handwriting was the same as the last note and Jim thought it looked familiar. He just couldn't place where he'd seen it before. Setting that thought aside, Jim made a note to pay extra close attention for the rest of the day to the handwriting of everyone he knew.

He'd figure it out before the day was out.

– – – **IV. Song** – – –

Jim still hadn't figured out who his secret admirer was when he received his last present of the day. It just so happened to be one of those singing Valentine's Day cards. It had a simple image of a heart within another heart on its cover along with the words _Be My Valentine_ in white cursive.

Of course, he opened it in the hall on his way to a meeting of the xenolinguistics club, which meant that everyone around him got to hear it too.

"_A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew. But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world with you._"

Blushing just a little, Jim slammed the card closed and thrust it back into the envelope and into his bag with a scowl. Two passing cadets giggled as they passed him, heading in the direction of the cafeteria. He was still no closer to figuring out who this secret admirer of his was.

Jim had noticed that there was a message inside the card before he'd slammed it closed. He was being asked out for dinner that night. Well, at least his secret admirer had taste, that was for sure. That information Jim stored away for later.

At least he'd finally get to find out who this secret admirer of his was.

– – – **V. Dinner** – – –

The restaurant was one of those that catered to a higher end clientele than cadets looking for a quick meal. It was the sort of place that required getting dressed up for. Jim didn't have anything that was appropriate to wear to such a venue, but he tried.

Jim felt out of place in his jeans – which didn't have any holes in them, for once – and t-shirt. Several people gave him weird looks and Jim ignored them, though he did glare back at a few of the snottier people who looked at him like he was dirt on the bottom of their shoes.

He'd been studying the floor and his shoes when a pair of long legs clad in the familiar black fabric of a Starfleet instructor appeared in his field of vision. Jim blinked and looked up. Then he gaped at who he saw.

"I apologize for my late arrival," Spock said cooly, hands tucked behind his back. "The instructors meeting lasted longer than I had estimated."

Jim couldn't believe it. _**Spock**_, of all people, had been his secret admirer. Sure, he thought Spock was attractive and yeah, he might have wanted to get to know him better and that meant getting naked and sweaty – which he was very much perfectly fine with – but he'd never thought he had an actual chance. They might have been evenly matched at chess and Jim's Vulcan was excellent, but Jim had never thought that he was Spock's type.

His head was still spinning from this revelation, but Jim pushed that aside, "It's fine; I wasn't waiting long."

There was just the slightest crease of Spock's brow as he took Jim in with a critical eye, making Jim feel extremely underdressed. He should have stuck with his cadet uniform; he didn't have anything appropriate for a place like this.

"If you would prefer to leave for another establishment, I would be amendable to that," Spock offered, no disapproval in his tone.

"No, this is fine. You made the reservation already and I don't really care where we go, so..."

Spock stared at Jim for several long moments before nodding and walking over to the hostess, who greeted him cheerfully and with familiarity. Jim trailed just a little ways behind, still not quite over his shock. The hostess sat them at a table tucked away in a private corner of the restaurant by the windows that afforded a very nice view of the city beyond.

After several long minutes of silence after they ordered their drinks, Jim finally asked the question that had been bothering him since that morning.

"Why'd you do it?" _Why me?_

Spock met his eyes and when he spoke, it was slow and thoughtful, "I was under the impression that this was an appropriate manner in which to express my interest in you. This date was stated as a fortuitous time to begin a relationship."

There was silence for a few seconds before Spock continued, this time more thoughtfully. "I have also been interested in you since we first met at the beginning of term. When I attempted to make advances, your responses were varied but were largely ambivalent. I was uncertain as to whether or not my interest was mutual; I see now that it is."

Jim smiled then, "Damn straight it is."

**FIN.**


End file.
